What is in this article?:

Since the very first Comfortech 18 years ago, providing an excellent trade show for the people who populate the HVAC industry has been our passion. This show exists to help them become better informed and more successful. Here’s a look at this year's Comfortech happenings.

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When it was time to tour the Comfortech exhibits, HVACR, hydronic, and plumbing contractors streamed onto the trade show floor to examine the latest products and services being offered in the mechanical systems industry.

The following is our recap of the event that is Comfortech. In addition, throughout 2014, we will share many of the show’s seminar presentations here in Contracting Business.com magazine and online.

Emerson Party Rocks Again A long-time Comfortech sponsor, Emerson Climate Technologies, again stepped up to host the annual Wednesday Night Welcome Party. The event always serves as a fitting start to the activities to come. It’s a time to network, enjoy good food, and meet up with old and new friends, all against the backdrop of an Emerson HVACR innovation.

This year, Emerson celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Copeland Scroll compressor, an HVAC industry-leading breakthrough that has surpassed 100 million installations.

Many historic Copeland Scroll innovations were on display in the ballroom of the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel, and Emerson again held a raffle for a great selection of prizes.

... held its “NCI Meets” Conference, continuing its tradition of sharing best practices among NCI members, to help solidify their futures. Day-long sessions featured productive collaborative roundtable

discussions of profit-building ideas.

Women in HVACR began its annual meeting with a report by WHVACR President Patti Ellingson of 2013’s successful outreach events. Laura DiFilippo, ContractingBusiness.com’s 2013 Woman of the Year, shared her story of success with a message called, “Forward Thinking, and Always be Yourself.” Rodney Koop, CEO of the New Flat Rate, shared how important it is to “know where you come from and always fight for what you believe in.” Other presenters at the Women in HVACR meeting: Matt Michel, CEO of Service Roundtable; Carol Wallace, CEO of Cooper-Atkins; and motivational speaker and author Mark Matteson.

The urged business owners to “Come Out Fighting,” during its “International Roundtable,” combining SR’s Alliance Day, International Roundtable, and presence at Comfortech 2013 to meet with a wide range of residential contractors, industry experts, manufacturers, and distributors. Among the highlights, keynote speaker, John Jantsch, author of “Duct Tape Marketing,” provided hours of advice on “How To Build A Referral Engine.” For the ninth consecutive year, the Service Roundtable brought the largest group of contractors to Comfortech.

RPA Brings the Heat — and Cooling! — to Comfortech The Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA) held its Annual Membership Meeting on Wednesday at Comfortech in Philadelphia, preceded by a reception on Tuesday night. RPA also brought its technical track to the show with presentations on the evolution of thermostats, reducing steam heating systems into warm water comfort systems to save costs, solar thermal design concepts, using infrared imaging technology, and a special four-hour course, “Radiant Cooling for Skeptics,” that explained the design principles involved in using radiant cooling in high-humidity regions.

Danfoss’ new customer Application Development Center will feature three sets of psychrometric rooms capable of testing air-conditioning system — including residential equipment and rooftop units from 2.5 to 50 tons and air-cooled chillers up to 150 tons....More